Category Archives: terrorism

(Boston, MA) – Today marks five years since the deadly Boston Marathon bombings that left three people dead and hundreds of others injured. The anniversary is dubbed “One Boston Day,” and has become a day of service in the community to celebrate the city’s resilience after the 2013 terror attacks.

A wreath-laying ceremony at the finish line this morning is set to be followed by a moment of silence at 2:49 p.m. Eastern, the time when the first explosion went off. Other events taking place in the city include blood drives, sneaker drives and school cleanups.

Thousands of runners will hit the pavement for the 122nd running of the Boston Marathon tomorrow.

(Grenoble, France) – French authorities have arrested a man who tried to run over troops at an army base in southeast France. Reports say the man and a female passenger were circling the barracks in the base near Grenoble today, shouting threats at soldiers. The driver then allegedly shouted death threats in Arabic as he tried to run over a group of jogging soldiers.

He ended up driving into a ditch, abandoning the stolen vehicle and fleeing. Police sealed off the area and arrested him within hours. The reason for the attack remains unclear. It happened less than a week after an ISIS terrorist hijacked a car and went on a shooting spree in southwestern France.

(Orlando, FL) –The trial of the Pulse gunman’s widow continues today after a defense motion for a mistrial or dismissal of the case was rejected. Attorneys for Noor Salman contended that the prosecution failed to reveal key information about the gunman’s father, including the facts that he had been an FBI informant and was under investigation for money transfers to Turkey and Afghanistan.

But U.S. District Judge Paul Byron ruled that the trial is not about Seddique Mateen, it’s about Noor Salman. She is charged with obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting Omar Mateen’s massacre at the Orlando nightclub that left 49 people dead. The defense is expected to rest today with closing arguments taking place tomorrow before the case goes to the jury.

(Trebes, France) –At least one person is dead after a man pledging allegiance to ISIS took hostages in a supermarket in the south of France today. Local media reports that the suspect has now let the hostages go and is alone with police in the supermarket. It’s also being reported that a second victim is dead and 12 others were injured.

The hostage-taker is said to have fired at a group of police officers prior to entering the supermarket. The prime minister of France says the situation appears to be an act of terrorism.

(Parkland, FL) – The sheriff of Broward County, Florida, says the scene of a high school shooting is horrific. Sheriff Scott Israel remarked that there are multiple deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, but he refused to detail exactly how many people died.

Israel said a suspect is in custody in the case. The suspect was arrested off campus. SWAT teams are still clearing the high school. Sheriff Israel also remarked that he has spoken Florida Governor Rick Scott and President Trump, and they have pledged to provide as much support as needed.

There are reports that the shooter may have pulled a fire alarm and opened fire on students as they left their classrooms. One student said there was confusion because an administrator was telling them to evacuate while a teacher was ushering them back into the classroom .

The suspect was put into the back of a squad car for a while, but then was removed from the car and placed in an ambulance.

A federal official said the gunman had been identified as Nicolas de Jesus Cruz, 19. A former student who had been expelled. Fellow students say, “He has always been a crazy kid. And I’ve always heard people say he would have done this. And unfortunately it was today.”

It appears warning signs were posted heavily on his Instagram account. Heavily armed police officers swarmed the school after the report of the shooting. Students were escorted away from the area with their hands up. Ambulances rushed some of the victims away from the scene.

The suspect is said to be a former student at the school. There’s no word on what prompted the shooting or the weapon that was used.

The White House is monitoring the unfolding drama in Parkland, Florida after a shooting at a high school. The White House says President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have talked with Florida Governor Rick Scott. In an afternoon tweet, President Trump called the tragedy terrible and offered prayers and condolences to victims and their families. He said no one should ever feel unsafe in an American school.

UPDATE: It’s now being reported that Cruz had made a disturbing comment on a YouTube post where he said that he wanted to be a ‘professional school shooter’. The creator of the page reported it to the FBI but the FBI is saying that they were unable to identify who he was.

The 19-year old was expelled last year for fighting. He had also lost his adopted mother in November after she died from either the Flu or Pneumonia. He claims that he felt unloved and wanted other people to feel the same way and that’s why he chose Valentine’s day.

Donald Trump is also under fire after tweeting that it was clear that Cruz had mental problems. The hypocrisy was pointed out because as we all know he rolled back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental issues to buy guns.

(Las Vegas, NV) – An autopsy reveals the gunman who shot and killed dozens of people in Las Vegas last year had anti-anxiety medicine in his system, but wasn’t under the influence of the drugs.

The autopsy released yesterday and showed signs of anti-anxiety meds, but the substances were found in his urine and not his blood.

The report said he was overweight, but otherwise healthy. Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and injured more than 800 others when he unleashed a hail of bullets on the Route 91 Music Festival from his high-rise suite at the Mandalay Bay Casino on October 1st. Paddock shot and killed himself before officers stormed his room.

(Las Vegas, NV) – An Arizona man who sold ammo to the Las Vegas shooter is facing charges. Federal prosecutors in Nevada are charging Douglas Haig with conspiracy to manufacture and sell armor-piercing ammunition.

A warrant for Haig’s arrest was issued yesterday, according to court records. At a news conference yesterday, he said he doesn’t believe the tracer ammunition he sold to gunman Stephen Paddock was used in the massacre.

Haig also insisted that Paddock didn’t act unusual when he came to his home to purchase about 720 rounds of tracer ammunition.

(Kabul) – The death toll continues to rise after a suicide car bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan. Authorities say nearly 100 people are dead and around 160 are injured.

Police in Kabul said the explosion occurred near the entrance to the government’s former Interior Ministry building at the end of a popular thoroughfare for shopping. The attacker was driving an ambulance, according to the Afghan Interior Ministry.

A spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry says the ambulance was stopped at a checkpoint but got through it. By the time authorities caught up with the vehicle, it was too late. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility.

(Orlando, FL) — Newly released documents show the wife of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen knew he was going to conduct an attack.In a written statement to the FBI, Noor Salman said she knew when her husband left their house carrying a bag full of ammunition and his gun, that he was “going to Orlando to attack the Pulse nightclub.”

Salman is charged with providing material support to a terror organization and obstruction of justice. Despite the statement, Salman has pled not guilty, and her trial is scheduled to begin in March.

Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 50 others when he opened fire in the nightclub almost two years ago.

(Reston, VA) – A Virginia teen is being charged with killing his girlfriend’s parents after they refused to allow their daughter to see him. The 17-year-old shot Buckley Kuhn-Fricker and her husband Scott Fricker at their home in Reston Friday night, then shot himself.

He’s currently in critical condition. Police did not give a motive for the shooting, but friends and family tell The “Washington Post” the parents believed the boy to be a neo-Nazi.

Newsweek reports, The 17-year-old boy allegedly killed Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, and her husband Scott, 48, following an intervention on Wednesday in which the mother tried to get her daughter to stop seeing him because she believed he was trying to indoctrinate her with white supremacist ideology, family members and friends told The Washington Post after the slayings.

Kuhn-Fricker’s daughter reportedly had been dating since June. At one point this summer, Kuhn-Fricker’s daughter told her that the boy was good at history and she asked “Did you know that Jews are partly to blame to WWII?”

Eventually, Kuhn-Fricker told the girl she had to stop seeing him. A friend reported to The Post she had told her,“We can’t allow her to see someone associated with Nazis. We don’t associate with hate groups in our house.”

Newsweek goes on to say that the boy continued to sneak into her home and Kuhn-Fricker told a friend he had sent this message to his mother on Thursday night: “[The boyfriend] was sneaking into our house at night…and is an outspoken Neo Nazi. These things render any legal redemption void,” The Post reported.

Some of the boy’s tweets and messages were so disturbing it prompted Kuhn-Fricker to alert the principal of the private school they both attend on Sunday night.

The tweets included screenshots of the account that had retweeted messages lauding Hitler, supporting Nazi book burnings, calling for “white revolution,” making bigoted comments about Jews, and showing a drawing of a man hanging from a noose beneath a slur for gay people, according to The Post.

“I would feel a little bad reporting him if his online access was to basically be a normal teen, but he is a monster, and I have no pity for people like that. He made these choices. He is spreading hate,” Kuhn-Fricker wrote in an email to the principal obtained by The Post.

On Friday, Kuhn-Fricker and her husband went to check on their daughter, a detective told the girl’s grandmother, according to The Post.

They found the boy in their daughter’s bedroom and Scott Fricker yelled at him to get out and never return again. The boyfriend then allegedly pulled out a gun, shot both parents, and shot himself in the head, The Post reported.

The boy is still alive and in critical condition as of Saturday evening.